Monday, July 25, 2016

At Antigua recreation ground, Indians played in 1983, 1997, 2002
and 2006 all ending in draws. However,
at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, India won by a huge margin of an
innings and 92 runs, making it their biggest victory margin abroad. Ravi Ashwin’s 7/83 is the
best by an Indian bowler in West Indies. Ash joins the elite list of Jack Gregory and
Ian Botham [century and 7 wickets in an innings]. Sometime back, the Madhya
Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) dropped all-rounder Rameez Khan from the
Ranji trophy squad after he was arrested for allegedly killing a black buck in
Sagar district. For the Ranji Trophy quarter final match against West
Bengal, they left out Rameez as Rameez, his father Mehmood Khan and their two
other associates were arrested under Wild Life Protection Act in Sagar district
for allegedly killing a black buck.

Deer
- blackbuck and Chinkara !

Blackbuck and
chinkara may look similar, but they are actually of entirely different.

Blackbuck
are a type of antelope, whereas chinkara are a type of gazelle. The most prominent difference between
antelopes and deer is that male deer have antlers which they shed and grow
every year while antelopes have horns that are permanent. Another difference is
that deer antlers are branched and antelope horns are not. Antelopes belong to
family Bovidae (as do sheep, goat and cattle), while deer belong to family
Cervidae.

The
chinkara, also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to
Iran, Pakistan and India. It stands at
65 cm (26 in) tall and weighs about 23 kg (51 lb). The sides of the face have
dark chestnut stripes from the corner of the eye to the muzzle, bordered by
white stripes. Chinkara live in arid
plains and hills, deserts, dry scrub and light forests. They inhabit more than
80 protected areas in India. In 2001, the Indian chinkara population was
estimated at 100,000 with 80,000 living in the Thar Desert. The population in
Pakistan is scattered, and has been severely reduced by hunting. Also in Iran,
the population is fragmented. In Afghanistan, chinkaras are probably very rare.

Chinkaras
are shy and avoid human habitation. They can go without water for long periods
and can get sufficient fluids from plants and dew. Although most are seen
alone, they can sometimes be spotted in groups of up to four animals. They
share their habitat with several other herbivores, such as nilgai, blackbuck,
chausingha, wild goats, and wild pigs. Chinkaras are preyed upon by leopards,
Bengal tigers, and dholes.

The
blackbuck also known as the Indian
antelope, is an antelope found in India. The long, ringed horns, 35–75
centimetres long, are generally present
only on males. The blackbuck is a
diurnal antelope (active mainly during the day). The blackbuck inhabits grassy
plains and slightly forested areas. Due to their regular need of water, they
prefer areas where water is perennially available. The antelope is native to
and found mainly in India, while it is extinct in Bangladesh. Formerly
widespread, only small, scattered herds are seen today, largely confined to
protected areas. During the 20th century, blackbuck numbers declined sharply
due to excessive hunting, deforestation and habitat degradation. During the
20th century, blackbuck numbers declined sharply due to excessive hunting,
deforestation and habitat degradation. Until India's independence in 1947,
blackbuck and chinkara were hunted in many princely states with specially
trained captive Asiatic cheetahs.

Deer have a peculiar problem ! Unlike human pupils, which are round
and when dilated do not span much of the eye, deer pupils are elliptical (like
a cat’s) and can dilate to cover the entire width of the orb. Since deer have larger pupils, more dilated, more amount of light reaching
the retina due to their larger lens, they often become dazed when faced with powerful
headlights of vehicle, causing them to freeze and eventually die too.

Today
web searches on ‘chinkara or blackbuck’ leads to the news of Salman Khan being
acquitted from cases of killing a black buck and chinkara in two separate
incidents. This phase seems to be a good one for Salman, apart from his box
office success with Sultan. In December 2015, Salman Khan was acquitted in the
2002 hit-and-run case as well. Khan's father Salim Khan tweeted moments after
the verdict.

To read something good – there was the story of young Kiran
Bishnoi of Jodhpur, who rescued and raised a chinkara fawn, becoming a poster
girl in many magazines. Kiran Bishnoi, a
young Rajasthani woman, saved a chinkara fawn from a pack of dogs which had
surrounded the little animal. What followed thereafter is an even more moving
story -like many other women of Rajasthan, she had walked up to some two
kilometres when she saw this chinkara baby being attacked by dogs. She saved
animal but could not carry the load and deer together. She threw
away the wood collected for her livelihood and at home, as bottle feeding failed,
she breast-fed the young fawn along with
her child.